AI and Travel: Are Human Recommendations Still Better?

This week on Instagram I came across a post that did exactly what each one hopes to do. It stopped me scrolling. The carousel went like this…

Opening slide: “how I use AI to understand a city before I arrive…”

It continued: “We don’t open guide books anymore, we open prompts. What should I do if I have a few hours in [neighbourhood]. What markets are near [area] and are they worth visiting? What restaurants should I absolutely not miss in [city]?”

The final CTA: “Follow for more AI and travel tips.”

I sat there for a moment and thought… hmm, is this becoming the new normal way for people to travel, or is it the first sign of the unbecoming of travel itself?

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some general anti-AI message. Honestly, on a personal level, I think AI is one of the most exciting things happening right now. And I genuinely feel so lucky to have been born in the 90s and to witness the internet, smartphones and now artificial intelligence completely changing the way we live. I use it myself in all sorts of ways and honestly think it can be a wonderful tool for some things.

But travel, for me, is different. It’s so special, sacred even, that I’ve chosen to keep this area off limits.

I do that because I worry what will become of our experiences if our first instinct and main resource becomes using a prompt in the AI engine of our choice. Because yes, it may be a tool with the ability to summarise thousands of reviews in a heartbeat. It can tell you opening hours (well, sometimes). It can suggest neighbourhoods, recommend restaurants and help you plan an itinerary far quicker than one little ole person ever could.

But, can it tell you a story from somewhere it’s been, what a place smells like when its cooking its signature dish or what the atmosphere feels like? Can it tell you that one particular table outside catches the evening sun so beautifully around six o’clock or perhaps a conversation it had with the owner of the little café you’re about to visit?

Can it?

Out of curiosity, I tested the same prompts myself using Berlin, a city I’ve called home for almost ten years.

The recommendations were… okay. But they were also exactly what I’d expected.

The places that appear on the first few pages of Google. The restaurants everyone here knows and the cafés that have become famous because they’ve already been recommended a thousand times before. [Insert big sigh of relief] knowing my little local spots are safe and sound, so far.

Maybe that’s going to be okay for most. But I still believe there’s going to be a fair few of us who still believe there’s something really special about recommendations that come from another human.

Someone who actually calls that place home, has spent years exploring its neighbourhoods, or at least some months on the ground becoming a regular at little local spots. Someone who you may not have met personally but somehow you sense that you have a similar vibe and so if those are their favourite places… there’s a good chance they’ll become yours too.

For me, no amount of convenience will ever replace the joyful ‘inconvenience’ of landing in a new place, staying for months, going off path and stumbling on random places down alleyways that only few people seem to know…

Maybe that’s also why I’ll always be drawn to recommendations that come from people rather than generated by prompts (and perhaps why I’ve found so much joy in creating my travel guides too). Because behind every favourite place is usually a favourite personal story.

I have a feeling you’ve found your way to this little corner of the internet because you see value in that too.

And if that’s the case…

I’ll keep sharing mine with you.

If you’re planning a trip to any of the places I’ve been lucky enough to get to know well, feel welcome to browse the digital guides I’ve written, specifically for travellers who still believe the best recommendations come from humans.